Jain Irrigation gets regulatory nod to launch new NBFC

Jain Irrigation Systems (JISL), India’s largest and world’s second largest micro-irrigation company has obtained regulatory approval from RBI to launch the new NBFC. The new joint venture is already incorporated in the name and style of -- Sustainable Agro-commercial Finance -- to be commonly recognized by its acronym; SAFL (pronounced SAFAL) will be a non-deposit taking NBFC.

The JV is to commence initially with Jain Irrigation, Promoter entities and IFC - a member of the World Bank Group- as equity shareholders with some banks and financial institutions joining the equity shareholding, at a later stage. The new NBFC will focus its activities on Farm and Farmer only and operate in the rural & semi urban geographies of India. SAFL’s launch will mark a new milestone in the thinly populated space of private sector financing of agriculture.

During the last 50 years of Jain families’ and 34 years of JISL’s operations involving close dealings with the farmer community, it has realized the critical need and abundant scope for extending finance to farmers with a quick turnaround time and without procedural hassles.

JISL is a farmer-centric company and micro irrigation has been its mainstay since the mid-1980s. The company has pioneered a green revolution through micro-irrigation technology, which comprises mainly of drip and sprinkle systems.